Undeterred by row, UP goes ahead with Vandana plans

He claimed this was part of the scheme to inculcate moral values in students. Under this plan, training for “moral-based education” is being imparted to education officers at all levels, including school principals and teachers. “This will help in improving the education atmosphere in the State,” Shukla claimed.

Muslim leaders and Christians havetaken strong objection to the Bharatiya Janata Party Government’s new rules. “You cannot give religious instructions at educational institutes, as per Article 29 and 30 of the Constitution. Reciting of Vandana is a sort of religious instruction which can be challenged in court and we will take recourse to political as well as legal battle to get it withdrawn,” said Zafaryab Zilani, an advocate and convener of the Babri Masjid Action Commission (BMAC).

He says that one cannot even enforce singing of the Jana Gana Mana anthem as per Article 25 of the Constitution and on which the SC had upheld a Kerala court judgment in 1987.

Shukla has also directed that new chapters be added to the course books to make them more “comprehensive.” The minister wants to include chapters on Mother Teresa, Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Sant Haridas and Ramkrishna Paramahans in a book named Hamare Purvaj (Our Ancestors).

This, however, is unlikely to be implemented taking the magnitude of the project. Anofficial of the SCERT, which works under NCERT, said that so far permission for a change in the curriculum has not been sought.